


Census of 1891

by summer_of_1985



Series: You are the fond object of my affection and my desire [23]
Category: Anne of Green Gables - L. M. Montgomery
Genre: Anne is pregnant at this time, Book: Anne's House of Dreams - L. M. Montgomery, Census, F/M, Married Couple, Married Gilbert Blythe/Anne Shirley
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-26
Updated: 2021-02-26
Packaged: 2021-03-17 08:01:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 998
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29714097
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/summer_of_1985/pseuds/summer_of_1985
Summary: Gilbert and Anne complete the first census in their married life, one year into their marriage, whilst they await the arrival of their first-born child.
Relationships: Gilbert Blythe/Anne Shirley
Series: You are the fond object of my affection and my desire [23]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1611820
Comments: 8
Kudos: 9





	Census of 1891

Anne was now heavily pregnant, expecting their first child, it had been going around both Glen St. Mary and Four Winds that this year would be another census year (a way of knowing who is where and what they’re doing). It was the first one that Gilbert would be completing as a doctor and a happily married man to his Anne.

Even with the help of Susan, Anne still wanted to make Gilbert something that would remind them of Avonlea - their home. Which is how he found his when he came back from his rounds early, stirring something on the stovetop, with a hand resting gently on her round bump.

“Anne-girl, what are you doing on your feet?” Gilbert questioned his wife, looking at her with a raised eyebrow. The sudden announcement made Anne jump slightly, and looking over at her husband - she smiled at him. Gilbert walked over to Anne’s side, leaning down and pressing a kiss to her bump, and looked into the pot that Anne was stirring. “What are you doing?” He asks her.

She told him, with her same smile, that now looked slightly sheepish. "Erm, is it cottage or Shepard's pie that is cooked with mince?" Anne asked, she didn't know why she had forgotten, Gilbert told her that it was 'pregnancy-induced brain fog', that it could range from forgetting appointments and why she walked into a shop to where her purse is ad even if she turned the stove off. He promised her that every pregnant woman he has helped since he became the doctor of Glen St. Mary and Four Winds (taking the role of doctor from his Uncle Dave), has experienced it in some way or another.

"Cottage pie, my love," Gilbert tells her, knowing that it isn't her fault that she currently easily forgets things like this. Gilbert removes his arms from around his wife and wandered over to the pantry.

"Thank you," she replies, rewarding him with a kiss to his cheek - letting the pot simmer a bit more, only to turn around and see her husband, carrying the sack of potatoes they'd brought back from town on Gilbert's recent day off (last Saturday). "Gilbert, what are you doing?" She asks her husband, waddling over to his side, as he sets the sack of potatoes on the ground by his chair. Gilbert pulled out Anne's and beckoned her to sit down - which she did with little argument, this surprised Gilbert, he knew his wife would have countered him, she must have been that tired.

"I am going to peel the potatoes for you," he tells her, and just as Gilbert goes to put a knife to the first potato he had picked up, there was a knock on the door. "I'll answer it, darling," 

At the door was someone they had never met before, which caused a hint of suspicion in Gilbert - until he said that he was one of the commissioners and they were collecting data for the census this year. Gilbert had heard the rumours that it was census year from the people who arrived at the surgery every day (it was starting to get a little bit repetitive). The commissioner even had some kind of badge to prove that he is a legitimate commissioner.

"Is there just one family living here?" The man asks, with the confirmation from Gilbert. "Who is living here?" He continues.

Gilbert calls for Anne, and she slowly comes waddling over. The commissioner congratulates them. Anne holds onto Gilbert, she calls for Susan.

"There is myself, my wife Anne, and Susan Baker who is our hired help," Gilbert wrinkled his nose when he said that Susa was their ' hired help', it's a saying he has always hated.

The commissioner asked Gilbert about his profession and before he even opened his mouth, Anne said with pride, "He's the doctor for Glen St. Mary and Four Winds, aren't you, Gilbert darling," 

A slight rose blush appeared on Gilbert's cheeks as Anne would proudly show him off telling to anyone that would hear that her husband was a doctor. 

The commissioner asked them for their ages (Anne, having just turned 26, and Gilbert, 28), profession (Gilbert being a doctor), whether they were married (which they were), the province of their birth (Gilbert being Prince Edward Island, Anne being Nova Scotia).

When he got to place of birth for their parents, Gilbert could easily say Prince Edward Island (the Blythe's hadn't moved from the island as far as he knew), however with Anne being an orphan she didn't know anything about her roots. "I don't know," she said.

"What do you mean you don't know? Everyone knows where their parents were born," The commissioner says, and Gilbert puts a gentle hand on his wife's shoulder.

"She was orphaned when she was a baby," he told the commissioner. The man tooled slightly ashamed by the words that he had spoken, and apologised for the words that left him. Which she accepted.

All she knew of her parents, was that they were named Walter and Bertha Shirley, who were teachers and died of a fever when she was a baby. She wished she knew more about her parents, a letter that was sent to Marilla months ago said that Mrs. Thomas had passed away.

Gilbert didn't know much about Anne's childhood - and he doubted that she would ever tell him the whole story, there would probably be slip ups over the years to come when she would let something slip about her childhood.

When the commissioner asked about their religious views, Anne thought it was a bit bizarre as to why they would be asking about this. As Anne was thinking over this bizarre question, Gilbert answered that they were Presbyterian (but was also thinking along the same lines as his wife).

It was also confirmed that all three could read and write, and none of them were deaf or dumb, blind and were all sound minded.


End file.
